XYLENE POWER LTD.

SPHERICAL COMPRESSION PART A

By Charles Rhodes, P.Eng., Ph.D.

SPHERICAL COMPRESSION:
Spherical compression is the technique that is used to achieve the large transient pressure and temperature that are required for triggering thermo nuclear fusion. Spherical compression was originally perfected during WWII as a method of triggering plutonium type atomic bombs.

Spherical compression is used in the General Fusion Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF) process and in the Micro Fusion International Plasma Impact Fusion (PIF) process because liquid lead behaves as an incompressible fluid above its own speed of sound.

Consider a liquid lead shell of outside radius Ro containing a smaller plasma sphere of radius Ri. The two spheres share a common center. The radius values when the liquid lead has formed a closed shell and is ready for deuterium fuel injection are:Ri = Rid = 1.45 m
andRo = Rod

The significance of this equation is that at fusion conditions (dRih / dT) must be sufficient to satisfy the requirement for adiabatic heating of the plasma, which sets a minimum value on (dRih / dT) and hence a minimum value on Eklh.

Eklh is an important parasitic energy load that must be supplied by Ekld in addition to the energy required to heat the plasma.